Label: Inside Out
Release Date: 13th January 2015 (North America)
Genre: Progressive Metal
Line up:
Daniel Gildenlöw – lead vocals, guitar, lute, mandolin
Gustaf Hielm – bass guitar, double bass,
Léo Margarit – drums, vocals, percussion, mandolin
Daniel “D2” Karlsson – keyboards, percussion, backing vocals
Ragnar Zolberg – guitar, vocals, mandolin
Track Listing:
1. Stress (From Entropia)
2. Linoleum (From Road Salt One)
3. To the Shoreline (From Road Salt Two)
4. Holy Diver (Dio cover) (04:34)
5. 1979 (From Road Salt Two)
6. Chain Sling (From Remedy Lane)
7. Perfect Day (Lou Reed cover) (04:51)
8. Mrs. Modern Mother Mary (From Scarsick)
9. Flame to the Moth (From Scarsick)
10. Spitfall (From Scarsick)
11. Falling Home (New Track)
Pain of Salvation launch their 9th studio album and it’s a little bit of a different direction. Welcome to the wonderful world of Pain of Salvation UNPLUGGED.
Featuring some fan favourite tracks completely reimagined acoustically but still as progtastic, 2 wonderful cover versions and a brand new track.
The album kicks in with a really nice jazzy Stress which is taken from their 1997 album Entropia and blows your mind as this is a complete curve ball. Letting you know this is not going to be a typical concept POS album. This isn’t even a best of/greatest hits record. It’s something entirely different. To say that this recording twinkles like a moustache on a man with a cold is an understatement. It’s just magical
She Likes to Hide (which is taken from my personal favourite POS album Road Salt One originally released in 2010) is where this album truly shines for me. The vocals show Daniels falsetto vocal which the Bee Gees would envy. The band lay on a Spanish Flamenco groove to accompany Gildenlöws voice perfectly.
The Dio cover Holy Diver is a stroke of genius. Marrying lounge jazz with reggae is just surreal and typically shows their sense of humour.
As for the Lou Reed Perfect Day cover, it is sublime. Not really deviating from the original version and keeping it more of a true tribute but a lot more evocative is just jawdroppingly brilliant.
The album closes with the brand new and title track of the album Falling Home the link for the video I have included below is just beautiful. A befitting end to a very special album indeed..
Overall this is such a great album. The musicianship on this record is second to none and shows them off in a completely different light. To hear the tracks out of context from the usual concept album format, goes to show how strong their song writing truly is. Daniel Gildenlöws voice is amazing, the vocal harmonies really rival the 4 part harmonies of The Beatles Nowhere Man and the band are really on fire. The album has a tremendous live feel to it.
Lyrically the album deals with sexuality, war, the environment, and the nature of God, humanity, and existence as per the norm with this band.
Destined to become a Pain of Salvation classic. Bring on the live acoustic shows. An evening with Pain of Salvation would be a tremendous evening as well as a joyous occasion (just planting the seed. You never know)
Written by: MGM
Ratings: MGM 9/10
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